Best Places In The World To Retire

I love the ocean and I’ve been everywhere and I never had any problem anywhere I went. I was in Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Manzanillo, Cancun, etc., and I never had a problem.
 
When I was in Nayarit in Boca de Iguanas, there were times when there were hundreds of tuna in the water and all the gaviota birds, came towards me because they were attracted to the tons of tuna. That’s the only thing that scared me.

 

(A shoal...

I love the ocean and I’ve been everywhere and I never had any problem anywhere I went. I was in Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Manzanillo, Cancun, etc., and I never had a problem.
 
When I was in Nayarit in Boca de Iguanas, there were times when there were hundreds of tuna in the water and all the gaviota birds, came towards me because they were attracted to the tons of tuna. That’s the only thing that scared me.

 

(A shoal  of yellowfin tuna, pictured.)

The cost to rent an apartment in Coronado, Panama will range depending upon the time of the year, the length of the lease, and of course the size and type of apartment. The more amenities, the more it’s going to cost.
 
On average, if you’re going to do a six-month lease, you can get something in the neighborhood of US $1,500 to $2,000 a month. If you’re going to come during low season, which is May through November, you can pay $1,200 a month for a two-bedroom...

The cost to rent an apartment in Coronado, Panama will range depending upon the time of the year, the length of the lease, and of course the size and type of apartment. The more amenities, the more it’s going to cost.
 
On average, if you’re going to do a six-month lease, you can get something in the neighborhood of US $1,500 to $2,000 a month. If you’re going to come during low season, which is May through November, you can pay $1,200 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. If you come during high season, which is December through April, plan on paying $2,400 to $2,500 a month.
 
Year-to-year, it’s going to be like the six-month lease, which is $1,500 to $2,000 for two bedrooms and two baths with an ocean view, whether right on the ocean or a short distance, but with a great ocean view. It will be in a gated apartment complex with amenities such as a pool and a gym. The range is between 1,000 and 1,500 square feet (about 100 to 140 square meters). 
 
Because I have a pet, with condo living, there are places where you go take your dogs out. Having dogs, they sell things that I didn’t know existed. There are the puppy pee pads. There is fake grass that you could put on your balcony. There are places where you take your dogs down to do their business.
 
The dogs tend to be very happy because they get walked more than they did wherever you called home. They make friends very easily because the dogs here are much more socialized. They get used to going out. You don’t have to take them out five times a day because of the things that they sell. You want to take them out twice a day and keep the puppy pee pads on hand. The dogs get used to that. 
 
As far as groomers go, this was a big concern for me because I have two little dogs. Groomers where I lived in Dallas charged US $65 a dog for the grooming, and then you had to pay tip on top of it. Here, you can get your dog groomed for about $15. So that’s it; a huge savings.

 

(Condo with a balcony for the puppies at Casa Bonita between Panama City and Coronado, pictured.)

There are many US trained Nicaraguan Doctors. The surgeon who fixed my daughter’s feet serves as a faculty member in Iowa concurrently with his medical practice in Nicaragua.

There are many US trained Nicaraguan Doctors. The surgeon who fixed my daughter’s feet serves as a faculty member in Iowa concurrently with his medical practice in Nicaragua.

FATCA (or the HIRE Act) requires US citizens to file a new form on their tax returns called the 8938.   It is a disclosure form of all foreign financial assets, and includes everything but property held in your own name and gold held in your own name.   All other financial assets, trusts, companies, LLC's, stocks, partnerships, etc., must be disclosed on this form. 

FATCA (or the HIRE Act) requires US citizens to file a new form on their tax returns called the 8938.   It is a disclosure form of all foreign financial assets, and includes everything but property held in your own name and gold held in your own name.   All other financial assets, trusts, companies, LLC's, stocks, partnerships, etc., must be disclosed on this form. 

There never used to be any racial tension in Portugal, but there is a little bit now. In general, however, compared to a lot of other countries, even though some racial tension exists, it is very minimal.

 

There’s no discrimination like we have in South Africa but sometimes there are comments.  The issues we have here are cultural.  Portugal used to have colonies in Mozambique and Angola, so you would hear people asking why certain people do things...

There never used to be any racial tension in Portugal, but there is a little bit now. In general, however, compared to a lot of other countries, even though some racial tension exists, it is very minimal.

 

There’s no discrimination like we have in South Africa but sometimes there are comments.  The issues we have here are cultural.  Portugal used to have colonies in Mozambique and Angola, so you would hear people asking why certain people do things certain ways.   We’ve had lots black clients from the US embassy, however, and we’ve never ever had problems. 

 

We can also have economic issues.  For example, there was a time when the less wealthy Brazilians were migrating and taking jobs as maids or gardeners that the Portuguese would have wanted, so here was some resentment there.   But now the level of Brazilians who are coming into the country are the wealthy Brazilians who want to get out of Brazil because of the corruption and because of the criminalities. Well, criminalities always been in Brazil but it’s a lot worse now, so that’s why the wealthy Brazilians are getting out. So it all have to do with what level of people are migrating and if they’re competing for jobs.   

 

(Portuguese air force during the 1960's in Luanda Air Base, Angola, pictured.)